I see posts talking about good BIFL items but I don’t hear much about the other side of products that are bad or products you bought but don’t even use.
I read somewhere that GoPros and other action cameras are one of the least used purchases, so I figured “that should mean there’s plenty on eBay”. So grabbed up second hand bargain, played around with it for a couple of weeks, bought some extra batteries and other accessories, and since then it’s sat in the cupboard except for a single occasion.
Turns out you don’t need an action cam if you’re not getting any action.
The good thing is GoPros are still good years later. Most of the action my GoPro 4 has seen was in the last 2-3 years after sitting for a really long time.
Oh damn I totally forgot about that one. My dad bought a go pro and I could’ve used it to film my scuba diving event but we couldn’t figure out where to mount it.
Dick mount.
I won one at an office Christmas party, took a time lapse of my chia pet, put it in a drawer for a year and felt guilty, then sold it to a ski instructor. It’s kind of like taking a video of fireworks or a concert. Unless you’re doing some wild extreme sports, who’s editing and rewatching that kind of video?
Bose Quiet Comfort II true wireless headphones.
I’d been toying with the idea forever. My earbuds are old, a little bulky, have some connectivity issues when one disconnects and it takes a lot of fussing to get them reconnected. So I decided to spend the money.
I get them from B&H. I get home, put them in, one of them has some sound issues—but other than that, the sound and fit were perfect. Like, they were my glass slipper. They fit perfectly, the seal was perfect, they wouldn’t ever hurt my ears after extended use…I was shocked.
But.
Having issues with one, I started messing with them, seeing if could get support or troubleshoot. Of course the first thing in the box is a QR for their app. Now, I never fuck with physical products apps. If I need an app, chances are I won’t use your shit. But I really wanted these to work, so I go to the app, and dig through the privacy policy.
Two addenda later, they’re trying to get me to sign the most obscene privacy policy ever. Listen to/record everything I play, collect a profile on me, listen to any ambient noise around the microphone, and weirdly, “map my head shape and movements?”
I deleted that app as quickly as I could. So I go to their support page on their site. Get into a chat with their customer service bot. It says, “replying to this message is agreement to our privacy policy.” So I open the link, read it…it kinda seems reasonable. Just talking about using my chat responses for training, standard. But then THREE layers of addenda deep I find here trying to get me to sign THE EXACT SAME FUCKIN POLICY.
I ran those fuckers back to the store. But not before trying to get someone on the phone about the legal matters. Yeah, nah. They wouldn’t connect me to someone in their legal dept. In fact, the very request seemed to puzzle them to no end.
FUCK BOSE. READ YOUR PRIVACY POLICIES.
Is it possible to accept to those terms but disconnect the app from internet access completely so that prevents any calling back to the server? I believe you should be able to run it without internet.
Still a shame that there exists such an invasive privacy policy. I use IEMs when I’m on the go and wired akg k371 when I’m at home.
Well, that’s actually what I was trying to find out. I tried getting their legal dept on the phone because I wanted to be 100% sure I could use those earbuds without ever agreeing to the policy. When they wouldn’t or couldn’t give me an answer, I said fuck them.
They were great headphones. But I didn’t even want to chance that kind of invasion. And I doubt there’d be any way I could be sure of a company clearly willing to violate my privacy so hard would not be collecting that data without my consent. Using their fuckin site was a minefield in itself because they were trying really fuckin hard to get me to sign that policy—not even sign it, just tacitly agree to it by responding to one message in order to get help. Too dicey for my liking.
I tried getting their legal dept on the phone
I don’t know if any company would comply with this request, unless you’re calling a law firm of course. Lawyers’ time is expensive and they don’t spend it speaking to end-users. You could try emailing their legal department - they may have a customer service rep that understands the legal side of things.
I would try denying it network permissions (if you’re on android) or just simply putting it on airplane mode and disconnecting all network to it.
I have some QC25 headphones I bought in 2015 and they’re still working well, other than having to replace the cushions a few times. No “smart” features, just a regular cable to plug them in. Noise canceling works well and I use it whenever I’m flying somewhere. They take AA batteries which is way more convenient than a built-in battery. I use Eneloops, and once the batteries don’t hold a charge well any more, I can just get new ones.
Holy shit, was never aware of this. Will stay far away from this brand!
A gaming chair, one of those that look like racer chairs. It basically destroyed my back, worst purchase of my life
Best advice Ive heard on chairs "Fuck gamer and racer style chairs. Look for something that screams “Im going to fire 3000 people over Zoom in this shit”
Yes lol, whenever someone is asking for a computer chair recommendation, no one will recommend a gaming chair.
Probably because in a real racing seat there’s a harness to keep you from slouching. I used to have terrible lower back issues with a Recaro bucket seat I converted for a desk chair. Never had a problem with it driving for hours when it was in my car (may it rest in pieces). Then it dawned on me that the seatbelt was maintaining my posture. Added a lap belt and the back problems abated.
Not only that. A racing chairs is not intended to be good for your back. It has a very different use, it protects you in the case of a crash. So unless you often get into car accidents while gaming, better to buy a chair that is specialised at ergonomics, not impact protection .
My race seat is super comfortable and it’s a fixed back.
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I learned about the companies selling refurbished Aerons on eBay and picked one up a couple years ago for $400. Love it!
Wait what, say more about used aerons for cheap
Same but a gaming mouse. I came from a cheap office mouse that was amazing but ended its (long) lifespan. Replaced it and wow this mouse sucks. Yes it has RGB but every single time I scroll with it, it causes my finger to hurt like crazy, which is a REAL problem in this era.
I did exactly the same. Even the kids wouldn’t sit on it haha
Chairs are one of those things that you need to drop serious money on if you sit more than a few hours a day. Focus on chairs for office work and expect to pay over $1k.
Yep, same. Worst chairs you can buy by a wide margin. Cheapest IKEA chairs is worlds better than the priciest gamer chair.
I bought a Steam Deck so I can play games while on the go. I just kind of forgot I’m never actually on the go, so 90% of the time it’s just gathering dust on my nightstand, because I’d rather play on my proper gaming PC when I’m at home.
I had the opposite happen. I thought a steam deck may help me be more on the go as well, however it just helped me be even lazier in bed…
This is the same reason I’ve never bought one. I love the concept, they are so cool. I use Linux on my desktop at home and at work. The thought of a powerful handheld Linux gaming PC for gaming on the go is so enticing, and I want to support Valve and the development of proton and gaming on Linux. But in reality I’m rarely “on the go”. I read articles on my phone when I’m on the train on my way to work. I watch videos on my android tablet when I’m flying on a plane for work. I have a Nintendo 3DS and an ODroid Go Ultra ARM emulation handheld gathering dust on my nightstand. I’d hate the thought of adding a steamdeck to the pile.
I just got one and deciding to get one is very situational. I’ll sit outside with my dog for hours and I can’t bring my desktop outside. For me it’s been great. I wouldn’t recommend one to someone unless they know when they’ll use it.
I thought I’d use it commuting too, but I don’t. It’s just a little too awkward to bring on my commute.
I use my steam deck because I want to play on the couch or in bed or something and I can just instantly start playing when I pick it up. I’ll leave it suspended in a game, so I hit the power button and 2 seconds later I’m back to playing.
I kinda regret buying my 3d printer. Not because it sucks, it’s more because it reminds me I don’t have any free time to do something this time consuming.
Another one is the cast iron wok. I love my cast iron pans, but the wok is just to damn heavy and it you can’t really use it like one would use a normal lightweight wok.
I have a 3d printer. It used to be a big hobby of mine, but now its just a tool like anything else. I print out practical stuff that i need when i need it, and when the printer is having issues i swear and curse at it like any regular paper printer.
Most recently ive been using it to print out new belts out of flexible filament for my rock tumbler.
I love my 3d printer…when it works. I have a major bed leveling problem from when I was cleaning the bed and forgot to put the plate on so the extruder came down and ripped off the magnetic sheet underneath. Been having problems ever since. I also can’t get the damn thing to print petg.
I already fail at investing the time to level the bad and such stuff. I really would love to use it. But next to work, trying to bootstrap and family time there is not really time left.
I always wanted to print stuff for build small robot parts for Arduino and raspberry pi. Maybe one day when the kids are older…
I think most traditional woks are carbon steel, seasoned similarly to a cast iron but much lighter. You could give that a try?
I thought about that a few times, but my wife doesn’t want another wok that’s taking space. So would need to fine a new home for old one, which doesn’t seem to easy.
Games on Steam sales.
I bought so many games on sale after I got my first grown-up job, that just ended up sitting in my library while I played the same 3 games. I bought a Steam Deck 6 months ago and it’s been great for clearing out my backlog. I love being able to play games sitting in the recliner instead of at a desk.
My Steam Deck and other game consoles, I have the money to buy them as an adult but I found that I have a fleeting interest at best in actually playing video games these days. At least my kids get some use out of them.
I find a lot of things as an adult arent that I dont have the interest anymore, its that I dont have whole days to pour myself into them anymore.
Thats why a lot of dads I know got super into their yard, grilling and camping.
If I have to do this shit for the family anyway, I might as well make this stuff my hobby
Some games still tick the box for me and make me enjoy gaming again. It’s usually not the massive triple A titles anymore, though.
A cellphone in like 1995. Had if for a few days before realizing I didn’t have anyone to call. Returned it not long after.
Same time plus minus one for me. Not only did nobody have a reason to call me (at school). Literally nobody else had a mobile phone.
Cast Iron Pan - I don’t cook enough to justify it. Girlfriend at the time thought it was a good idea, and she used it a bunch, but now it’s just in the cabinet probably rusting up.
Humidifier - It gets really dry in here and it was recommended as a solution to my dry eyes. But it’s a pain to clean and refill, so it mostly just sits there.
Robo vacuum - It wasn’t great at navigating the apartment, so I didn’t use its auto schedule thing. Then the cat hair overwhelmed it. It is languishing in the closet. I got some use out of it, at least, driving it around like an RC Car, but I ended up buying a more robust manual vacuum cleaner
Damn I’d ask if you are me but I absolutely love my cast iron skillet cause it’s the most nonstick pan in my house and I cook plenty. I have 2.
Humidifier, I found it easier to have one of those old school plastic water pitchers next to my humidifier that I can use to fill it up or keep a refill immediately nearby if I know I’m gonna use it all day and a little splash of bleach every now and again actually does a lot for cleaning it out on its own. But it sits empty a lot still.
Shark robo vacuum and Anker’s Eufy lines can die by fire. Both suck for completely different reasons and I have wasted so much money and I so wish I hadn’t accidentally lit on fire the like 3rd gen iRobot my grandmother gifted me because it was so “dumb” it was the only one that worked.
Confirmed here too. I HATE my shark vac bot. So many reasons and I have two of them unfortunately, each with different problems.
It’s insane how full of problems they are and yet how insistent they are that problems are somehow rare.
About the bleach, wouldn’t it just evaporates into the air and be toxic/bad for your health?
I’m also sick of cleaning my humidifier.
I’m planning to buy an evaporative humidifier, dump a kilo of sea salt in it so nothing can grow. As the water vaporize, all the salt will be remain for the next refill (as salt doesn’t evaporate with the water). I wonder if it would work as I can’t find anything on Google.
Well if you have ever been to a pool you are breathing in a pretty heavy dose of chloramine and depending on where you live there is likely chlorine in your tap water. I’ve even had to wash my veggies and fruits in bleach water because of parasites. It’s not exactly healthy for you but it’s not exactly harmful as long as you don’t do anything stupid. It’s a cleaning agent.
I’m using about a teaspoon for a gallon of water and actually settled on using a pre-diluted mixture in a spray bottle and just spray some in when I see it getting moldy again. Which is to say I also only do it like once a month to 2 weeks and try to do it before leaving the room or house for a bit to let it run without me immediately breathing in.
The other recommendation would be hydrogen peroxide since it breaks down a lot faster into just water anyways but it’s slightly less effective and less easy to just have on hand.
Salt seems like a terrible idea. I have super duper soft water with nothing in it but some basic calcium… Calcium powder is always settled all around my humidifier. And nearby glass surfaces. It will carry some salt with it, guaranteed. Plus I see it clogging important mechanisms or pores.
My cast iron pan is a best buy I use every day. Dropped all other pans.
Oh, I mean, I still love stainless steel and it’s all my other cookware because it’s the only other perfect answer.
Non stick. Can be scrubbed clean, can be thrown in an oven at insane temps if you don’t have any plastic or other materials on it. Silicone can still be at like 450.
Seriously, the plain boring non fancy stuff is the stuff that lasts forever and does the same result every time.
A switch. There are a handful of good games but I prefer to play on my computer
It exists entirely for Mario Kart or to keep nieces and nephews busy.
Man I use mine all the time, I have just dance, fitness boxing and ring fit adventure.
So much easier to get up and do some sort of physical activity when it’s a game not a task.
*mario kart is the game that sits on the shelf gathering dust until the nieces come over.
Man, I use my switch all the time. But I love little metroidvania and smaller indie and single player games. Any time I see something interesting on steam, I’ll buy it on the switch if available.
I’ve also been using it to replay older stuff. The first red dead, the Arkham trilogy, currently going through Nier: Automata again.
I feel like even in your case it would make more sense to buy it on steam and use a steam deck.
But i get it and i want to be as enthusiastic about it as you seem to be. But my switch is also just catching dust. So is my ps5 tbf.
If i could redo my buys, i would 100% go for a steamdeck over the switch and a xbox s over the ps5. Not because it is better or has more games… just because the money saved would flow into the gamepass and i could use that on my PC too and still have a console to play with my wife once every 2 years. Also games for xbox are generally cheaper for w/e reason.
I bought a steam deck a year ago after realizing that most of my gaming was done on my Switch over my PS4, and I had a backlog of PC games thanks to Humble Bundle purchases over the years.
The amount of times a game I wanted to play was on sale on steam but full price on switch was a big influence as well. I play a lot of rouge likes, metroidvanias, and other indie weirdness, so it’s a perfect fit for me.
I’m similar. I don’t regret my switch for an instant. It is the right form factor for me and I enjoy many of the games, there are just many other games that I am missing out on that would be playable on a steam deck. I will be getting one at some point, and I know all those games I wanted will still be there to try.
I’ve got a Switch and I do love it as a machine but those first party titles are so expensive. I’m the kind of person who will never buy games at launch and always wait for them to be reduced. I got it for Christmas and when I went to look at Zelda BotW it’s still £60, and so is Mario Odyssey.
I fly a lot and the Switch saves my sanity. But I never use it for anything else.
I don’t fly a lot, but that’s also its main use. I’m on a trip right now, I bought Pokemon just for this trip :)
this never happens to me because I’m poor
I’ve done it with paying for dental insurance but not going to the dentist because I can’t afford it.
My Steam library
A bread machine. Had good reviews. I used it like 3 or 4 times. The mixing things are too small to mix the dough properly, and having to fish them out of the bread after it was done was a huge hassle. The bread was not great… Shell was too hard, and the top side didn’t cook properly. Then I realized, I could basically do the same with a planetary mixer that can mix the dough and the normal oven, and the end result was far better.
Honestly it’s easier to do small batch of bread by hand than machine, you’ll have to clean a lot more thing afterward with machine mixing. These day there’s autolyse to help cut out the kneading.
Back in the early 10’s I paid $200 for a year subscription license to Adobe Flash Pro, as I had convinced myself I was gonna learn to use it to produce sprite animations like the ones I grew up enjoying on Newgrounds. Never booted it once.
i bought some tortillas a month ago, but never got the craving for burritos. I should probably throw them out now…
You can roll any chicken, fish, beef with it. Put some tomatoes and onions in there. Good lunch
This happens to me too often…
